According to a report by Maritz Research, an automotive market research company, the cash for clunkers program has performed even better what the government anticipated it to do for the automotive industry. The government offered huge discounts to the people who were planning to change their old car to a new fuel-efficient product.

The research firm further highlighted the fact that close to 765,000 units of new vehicles were sold while the program was running. The figure is almost double to that of the estimate by the Department of Transportation which stood at 346,000 units. Maritz further added the fact that, close to 5, 40,000 people were pulled towards various dealerships of automakers who weren't purchasing a car otherwise.

Moreover, over two lakh people were lured by the scheme but purchased a product anyway when they realised that they don't qualify for the benefit. The automotive research firm surveyed around 36,000 people who bought a new car or truck in the July to August period last year when Cash for Clunkers program was available. The congress spent a whopping $3 billion on the rebates.